598 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLH. No. 108f 



SOME ASPECTS OF SCIENTIFIC EESEABCH'- 

 So much has been said of late on the 

 subject of scientific research, its value to 

 science, to the industries of the country and 

 to the War Department, that it would seem 

 fitting to use the first meeting of our club 

 for a discussion of certain phases of this 

 subject. Furthermore, research is an ap- 

 propriate topic for discussion in our meet- 

 ings since the Faculty Science Club was 

 organized for the purpose of bringing each 

 member into closer touch with the recent 

 advances and research of the different fields 

 of scientific endeavor. 



Scientific research is, by the general pub- 

 lic, one of the least understood and there- 

 fore least appreciated departments of sci- 

 ence. The American people have been com- 

 paratively slow to recognize the value of 

 the deeper and more fundamental re- 

 searches in science. The national trait of 

 desiring quick returns with a minimum ex- 

 penditure of time and money has led to a 

 certain superficial empiricism, which has 

 gone under the garb of research. This em- 

 pirical testing is even now the predominant 

 principle in most of the so-called research 

 laboratories of our factories and industrial 

 plants. Even in our agricultural experi- 

 ment stations, I venture to say that the 

 major portion of the work is either routine 

 or of the cut-and-dry type, without refer- 

 ence to fundamental principles. 



Scientific research has perhaps as varied 

 a meaning among scientists as ethics has in 

 the field of law and jurisprudence. To 

 illustrate, I might cite a paragraph from a 

 recommendation of an applicant for the 

 position now vacant in my department. 

 The employer states concerning Mr. X that 



His particular work, aside from some analytical 

 work, has been the care and conduct of the State 



1 Address by the president of the Faculty Sci- 

 ence Club of the University of Nevada, read at 

 the opening session, September 23, 1915. 



Food Exhibit, and he has done good research work 

 in the taking of ice-cream samples, which has 

 been of great value to the department. 



To some the term research is so compre- 

 hensive that it might properly be applied 

 to a man's search for the best trail leading 

 to the summit of a mountain peak, or to the 

 prospector's investigation of the slopes of 

 Mount Shasta. To me research means some- 

 thing entirely different. The personal con- 

 tact with some of the leading research men 

 of the day and an acquaintance with the 

 writings and views of others of their type, 

 have moulded a definite concept in my mind 

 of the meaning of this term. To another 

 this concept might seem erroneous, and 

 consequently it behooves me to exercise a 

 little charitable tolerance until I or he will 

 have new light thrown upon the subject. 



Scientific research is the slow, laborious 

 process of laying bare, one by one, the facte 

 and truths of nature, which have a definite 

 bearing upon the fundamental and gen- 

 eral principles involved in the problem. 

 The isolation of a new chemical compound, 

 the invention of a machine or piece of 

 apparatus, or the discovery of a new force 

 in nature would not necessarily be research. 

 Only as these are units in the larger and 

 more fundamental problem could they be 

 included under that head. An illustration 

 may make this point a little clearer : Some 

 fifteen yeare ago Professor H. N. Morse, of 

 Johns Hopkins University, undertook the 

 problem of determining whether the os- 

 motic pressure of solutions obeys the laws 

 of Boyle, Gay Lussac and Avogadro for 

 gases. He assumed that this could be 

 demonstrated inside of two or three years. 

 He learned, however, that he was unable 

 to make or procure one satisfactory osmotic 

 pressure cell the first year, but during that 

 period worked out the proper clay mixtures 

 for such cells and the methods for purifying 

 the clays and moulding and burning the 



